The last night was also a moment Ill never forget. Nobody knew what to say whether to congratulate them or to give them sympathy. In addition two five-foot walls were rigged at the ends of the arena. However it is not just this year that records have been set and then broken. Man power: Robert Hardman (right) trains with the Portsmouth team. Today 21 strong teams compete over an 85 yard long flat track, a total run of 170 yards. It was Scott, then a Lieutenant, who had helped Captain Fisher (later Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord) establish a Gunnery School on Whale Island at Portsmouth in the 1880s. In support of the British Army, the Royal Navy landed guns from HMS Terrible and Powerful to help in the relief of the siege. Even the German super-heavy guns in World War II were rail or caterpillar-track mobile. The track length is also fractionally shorter due to the size of the arena. The Royal Marines set a new record in 1924 of 1 min 24.4 secs. In a combined display, Seamen from HMS Excellent and HMS Victory took their guns over two walls and two bridges. 1906 - on the 17th May, the Royal Naval and Military Tournament moved to and opened at Olympia, and the men from both establishments (Excellent and Victory), in a combined display, took the guns over no less than two walls and two bridges. This was the idea of Commander P.H Hall-Thompson RN, who is regarded as the father of the field gun competition. Both wheels are shifted. Every year since 1907, the naval base at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire staged its own version of the Field Gun competition called the Brickwoods Trophy. Ladysmith was the most vulnerable of the three towns. What's more, Woolers liked to get stuck in himself - be it running with the bulls in Pamplona or risking his neck on the Cresta Run. In 1896 the first all-naval display appeared in the programme of the Tournament. 1908 - the Inter-Port Competition was livened up by the substituting the plank obstacle with a Chasm. The record for the fastest run at the Royal Tournament was set by Devonport in 1999, the competition's final year, with 80.86 seconds for the "Run Out", 58.65 seconds for the "Run Back" and 20.92 seconds for the "Run Home", an aggregate of 2 minutes, 40.43 seconds.[4]. Throughout the competition the results are signalled to the fleet worldwide where the men follow their crews progress with the same fanatical interest, as they would show in their football team of their choice. In the final stage, the Run Home, men, guns and limbers passed back through the hole in the home wall and then the teams hook up and pull for home. The trophy left Portsmouth Command for the first time in 1978 as a result of HMS Fisgard's win. The average time for the Run Out was 85 seconds. The Royal Tournament was last held almost 23 years ago before the tattoo was cancelled, amid reports that the services had become too stretched to spare the 2,500 personnel needed to put the event on for its usual three-week run. Although the chasm was reduced to 28ft the competition remained fundamentally the same throughout the interwar years. And so the Field Gun race has carried on, kept alive by more than 20 volunteer crews. It was obvious that no one wanted it to end, however, it was too late. Charging flat out with a ton of gun and turning it on a sixpence while simultaneously taking off the wheels is still a feat of titanic choreography. Sadly, due to Government cuts this year was the last year of the Royal Tournament as everybody knows it and the final time anyone will ever run the gun. At the end of the two weeks field gunning, four trophies are awarded. Royal Navy Field Gun. Crews were permitted to use wires, ropes, spars etc to traverse the obstacle. The Royal Navy landed two 4.7inch guns and four 12-pounder field guns. The news of the relief of Ladysmith was greeted with great jubilation in Britain and Queen Victoria sent a telegram to the Naval Brigades thanking them for their invaluable assistance. There was never a shortage of volunteers - up to 300 for each crew. This proved most popular and the Navys contribution continued as part of the Tournament, which moved to Olympia in 1906. The Inter-Command Challenge Cup is awarded to the crew gaining the highest number of points over the fortnight, and this record is held by Fleet Air Arm for gaining the maximum 32 points in 1966 and the trophy is now held by Devonport for gaining 29 points. The course was then negotiated in the opposite direction with the winner being the first crew to cross the original start line. I have managed to gather the above information from a number of sources. The spirit of the Royal Tournament has not died either. duration, just to share an atmosphere that can not be found anywhere else in the world. The remaining three crews participated until the final Royal Tournament 1999. but it's up to you to prove yourself and give your all,' she says. A four minute run was first recorded in 1948, and three minute run in 1962. During the period from 1850-1914, the Navy did not fight any ship-to-ship actions, and most British seamen who were on active service in operations did so as part of a Naval Brigade. The course was changed in 1908 with a chasm replacing the plank obstacle. In the final stage, the "Run Home", men, guns and limbers passed back through the hole in the home wall and then the teams "hook up and pull for home". Crews from Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham and Fleet Air Arm competed at The Court until 1960 when the Chatham Crew withdrew from the competition. By Robert Hardman for the Daily Mail Updated: 17:28 EDT, 8 May 2009. The Guns are then taken round the arena at the double and advance in close order, reversing twice whilst in close order, they then wheel into the centre and Salute.. The competition evolved during the early years of the 20th century. There have been many changes to the competition. Many ex-gunners, or simply a keen supporter of the gun race, will make an annual pilgrimage to Earls Court. Man-packed mortars lack the range or hitting power of gun-artillery. This annual spectacular might have done wonders for morale and recruitment but, with the advent of New Labour and Cool Britannia, ministers disliked what they saw as an outdated relic of imperial grandeur. From 2001 there will be a new Military Tattoo featuring ceremony, massed bands and pageantry, also at Horse Guards Parade. However not only does the entire team have to traverse the course and its obstacles, so does the cannon. When Devonport went into the arena to collect their trophies there was not a dry eye in the arena. Two gun crews of eighteen men from the commands of Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham took part in the first competition. The Naval Brigade transported guns over difficult terrain and brought them into action against the Boers. A field gun is a field artillery piece. In 1907, the Royal Navy staged the first Inter Command Field Gun Competition at the Tournament. One of the most produced field guns during the war was the Soviet 76 mm ZiS-3 with over 103,000 produced. The winning crew in 1907 was HMS Cambridge, the gunnery school in Plymouth. Crews were not permitted to use any additional equipment to assist in transporting the gun and limber across the chasm. eight crews have competed including the Royal Marines in the 1920s. The guns and limbers were then dismantled and carried to the top of a ramp on the home side of a 28-foot (8.5m) chasm. The Royal Navy's field gun competition is a contest between teams from various Royal Navy commands, It used to be a yearly competition at the Royal Tournament. Gun-howitzers fill the middle ground, with the world rapidly standardizing on either the 155 mm NATO or 152mm Russian (former USSR) standards. HMS Collingwood beat this by running a time of 1 minute 18.8 secs in 2001. It stopped in 1999. the Powerful heading for home and arriving in Portsmouth on the 11th April. 'It is, simply, the greatest team-building discipline there is. This is called: Out, Back and Home. Less than 24 hours later at 6 p.m. on the 26th October, the mountings were built and the guns dispatched together with four 12-pounders in HMS POWERFUL to Durban. The gun is fired three times as quickly as possible. The Earls Court event is coming to an end because of. The chasm returned in 1913 and was extended to a distance of 30ft. I have come to the South Coast, with Grassy Meadows as my guide, to watch the preparations. Why hasn't it been banned on health-and-safety grounds? The legendary story tells of the siege of the British garrison in the township of Ladysmith in 1899. It ended in controversy as all three crews wore black armbands during the run, even after they were told by the MOD not to, but whatever anybody did it would not change the future. It was at this point that the Royal Navy was called into action. The first men are hauled across, carrying 120lb wheels for the gun carriage. The format of the competition and drill, based on the Brickwoods competition, changes slightly due to the fact that the crews run on polished concrete surfaces. The Guns used in the Field Gun Competitions, are similar to the 12-Pounder guns used in the Boer War, and other Naval Brigade activities assisting the Army, in places such as Egypt, China and Ashanti.Naval brigades were detachments from ships consisting of seamen and Royal Marines (which were soldiers on board ships) who were landed ashore to undertake naval operations or to support the army in a wide variety of campaigns. Each crew competes seven times against each of the other crews. The guns and limbers of a four-gun battery were taken over a four-foot wall in the arena at Islington. In 1981 Portsmouth produced a record run of 2 minutes 42.4, only to see it snatched away again two years later by Devonport with a run of 2 minutes 41.1. As a result, Captain Percy Scott of HMS TERRIBLE was tasked with producing plans for the mounting of two 4.7 guns for use ashore. "We have been on a knife-edge ever since then. The larger arena allowed the display to be scaled up. 'I once scraped all the skin off my knees, but I got to the finish line - which was the main thing.'. Audiences are held spellbound as the three commands from Portsmouth, Devonport and Fleet Air Arm do battle in a twice daily race that see two teams of 18 men take a gun and limber that dates back to the last century and weighing over a ton, plus associated equipment over a five foot wall, across a twenty-eight foot wide chasm, through a four foot high by two foot wide hole and bring the equipment into action, to engage the enemy and fire three rounds. To the reader - this is Command Field Gun, not Brickwoods Field Gun. The programme from the 1896 Tournament states: The guns are brought in and, after a short march around the arena, are cleared for action and one round is fired. Perhaps the most famous use of the field gun in terms of advanced tactics was Napoleon Bonaparte's use of very large wheels on the guns that allowed them to be moved quickly even during a battle. American Reacts to The Royal Naval Field Gun CompetitionOriginal Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32s4qCCFnmk#RoyalNaval #FieldGun #ReactionTo Support the Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDv8gGPKXTuyknm_xa9cjJQ/joinFollow me on social media:Twitter: @AnEclecticBeardInstagram: The_Eclectic_BeardFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?Check out these supporters of the channel: Jamie Barnhill: https://www.youtube.com/user/jlb13085IAmSam: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBqMsOCOygbCnSbtlpDEeowYota: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCf9kG5Ea6S59ElwKVAW5WvwCopyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for \"fair use\" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. The Second World War stopped play for a second time, but the resumption saw two important changes: the venue was Earls Court in1950 and by now the Royal Tournaments Field Gun Competition had been joined by a team from the Fleet Air Arm. However, the run is still not over, penalties can still be incurred if the drill is not carried out correctly, for instance: a man moving before the G is sounded on the bugle or throwing or dropping a piece of equipment into the chasm. One story tells of sailors carrying one of the 12-pounder guns for 2 miles (3.2km) after one of the wheels collapsed. The highlight of the concluding day of the last tournament was the final running of the renowned Royal Navy field gun competition. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. A 'lucky' 50 would be selected and subjected to six months of intensive training before the Royal Tournament itself. Being a charity, it's been a real challenge, and a great triumph that we've got through to the millennium.